Chapter Twenty

"God damn it," Hunter muttered as he hung up the call and tossed his cell onto the desk.

"Another call out?" Ares asked.

He nodded. "Floor manager. This is getting ridiculous."

Just then, both their cell phones beeped with an incoming message. Ares glanced at his as Hunter grabbed his from where he'd just dropped it.

"Brim wants us to check on Ronin. Hasn't heard from him."

"What?" Hunter checked his own text message. "He's on assignment, isn't he?"

Ares placed a call to Brim before putting it on speaker. "Hey, Boss, we're secure. What's going on?"

"Ronin sent word that he was unable to complete the job, and now I can't get in touch with him."

Ares and Hunter shared surprised glances. "He's never done that before."

"I know, that's why you two need to find him and make sure he's not dead."

"Both of us?"

"I want you to watch each other's back, just in case."

"Always. We'll call when we know something."

"Fine," Brim said right before he hung up.

Hunter leaned back in his chair. "What the fuck?"

"Ronin's never failed before. Something happened."

Hunter nodded. "I know it's her day off but do you think Adira would mind working here tonight as the floor manager?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

He went to reach for his phone, and then scowled. "Fuck. She doesn't have a phone."

"Text Courtney to see if she's at the clubhouse."

Ares sent the message and almost instantly, a response came through. "No. Said she went out on an errand earlier."

"We need to get that girl a cell phone."

Hunter texted Courtney again asking him to have Adira call when she got back. That he needed her to work at Belladonna as the floor manager. He replied that he would.

"All right, let's head out." Hunter stood and slipped his phone into his back pocket. "Sooner we get there, the sooner we can get back to our girl."

"We're going to have to talk to her," Ares said. "She doesn't think she's our girl."

"Yeah, I know. I also don't want to rush her into anything."

"Well, we need to figure something out. And soon. I want her with us full time."

Hunter nodded, agreeing.

****

When Adira walked into the clubhouse it was weirdly quiet. The door to Brim's office was closed, so she figured they were in a meeting. Only a few guys sat around playing video games, and a few club girls walking around half dressed. Most of the time she ignored the girls. There wasn't any reason to talk to them.

"Hey, you!"

Adira paused and looked behind her. Lori, one of the women she didn't like, walked up to her with a sneer on her face.

"Hunter texted. Belladonna had another call out and he wants you to work there tonight."

"Work there?" she asked, confused. "Doing what?"

"You know. Upstairs."

"Surely that's a mistake…"

The sweet butt got right up in her face. "You think you're better than us?"

"No, I don't think that."

"It's on your face, bitch." The woman was several inches taller than her, and her fierce anger scared Adira. "Well, guess what? You're no different than me. You have a pussy and the club wants you to use that cunt to make them money. So, unless you want to permanently leave, you'll get your scrawny ass over there and find a room upstairs."

No, it had to be a mistake. Hunter wouldn't do that, would he? He and Ares always said she was theirs, and she took that to mean exclusivity. But one look in the sweet butt's eyes and Adira knew she'd misread everything. Cold satisfaction proving she wasn't lying.

No. She couldn't do it. There was no way she could fuck strange men, and the moment she feared would happen finally arrived. Hunter and Ares were done with her. Suffocating agony constricted her lungs, making it hard to breathe. She thought they were falling for her, but obviously that was nothing but a pipe dream. Adira turned away from the woman and hurried upstairs to the room she shared with the two men. Tears flooded her eyes as she pulled out her backpack to quickly throw in her possessions. It wasn't a lot. Hopefully, Livia wouldn't mind letting her crash for the night, giving her a chance to figure out where she could go. It was obvious she couldn't stay in Cardinal. Not when there was a chance she could run into them.

Damn it, she knew this was going to happen. All those weeks ago when she stood at the lake, she reminded herself that Hunter and Ares would eventually get tired of her. Now, her world crashed down upon her shoulders.

It was over.

Her heart snapped in half.

Adira took one last look around. Tomorrow, she'd be angry. Tomorrow, she'd square her shoulders and lift her chin so they wouldn't see how broken she was. Tonight, however, was for crying. She let the tears fall down her face as she left the room and pulled the door shut behind her.

Another chapter of her life had come to an end. Perhaps it was her fate in life to lose everything she held dear. Leaning her forehead against the door, the memories of Hunter and Ares played through her min d— the first time she'd met them, the first time she kissed them, how they made love to her and worshipped her body.

Whatever she had with them was now over. She'd admit, only to herself, that she had fallen in love with both of them. She kissed her fingertips and pressed them to the door, then she turned and headed down the back staircase. She had no desire to see any of the Death Riders. The tears continued to pour down her face as she stepped outside and walked off through the night.